


Thor's little pixie

by Miss_Von_Cheese



Series: Thunderstruck [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Army, Body modifications, Disabilities, F/M, Fluff, Genderbending, Pre-Serum Steve Rogers, Tattoo parlor AU, tattooing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-23
Updated: 2014-04-23
Packaged: 2018-01-20 12:43:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1510898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miss_Von_Cheese/pseuds/Miss_Von_Cheese
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She was not the kind of girl you'd imagine getting a tattoo, but the day Stephanie Rogers walked into his shop she turned Thor's world upside down.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Warning: Chapter 2 contains explicit descriptions of a tattoo session (blood, needles, pain...)

It was a quiet afternoon in _Asgard_ : the last client having left the parlor ten minutes ago the boys could finally relax, drink sodas or coffee and talk about anything and everything. Thor was taking stock of his inks and needles, amused by his friends’ conversations. Since Sif had opened her own tattoo parlor with her brother a few months ago, the atmosphere had become much manlier in _Asgard_ and the group of four was less moderate when it came to talking about certain topics. 

As usual, Fandral bragged about the last girl he had seduced with his old school roses. Volstagg, the piercer, couldn’t stop babbling about his wife’s pregnancy and searched for the font he would use to ink his fourth child’s name on his arm, while Hogun worked on one of his many Japanese tattoos in silence. 

They were all laughing out loud, except for Hogun whose chuckle was barely audible, when the door opened and their voices faded. Thor looked up from behind his counter to witness the strangest show he had seen since he had opened the shop. A young woman walked in, so frail and petite she looked barely legal. She had a blond pixie cut and impossibly big blue eyes, and without her suspenders her too large jeans would have dropped to the ground. 

Fandral immediately leaned in with a charming smile and asked, slightly condescending, “Hello miss, what are you doing here? Selling cookies?”

The girl turned to Fandral with a serious frown. “And you? Do you tattoo people sometimes or do you just sit on your ass and lose clients by being rude?” 

Volstagg bursted out laughing and clapped Fandral’s back. “Aooow! Burns more than a 45 Shader, right?”

Feeling like his friends were going to be too annoying for the woman’s taste, Thor quickly got up with a warm smile. “Please excuse my friends, Fandral is a boar. What can I do for you, miss?” 

The little lady shook his hand, her tiny paw lost between his huge fingers. “It’s okay, they don’t impress me much,” she assured with a thick Brooklyn accent. “I would like to get a tattoo, I’ve been told you were the best in town.” 

Thor nodded politely. He usually didn’t do tramp stamps and other tiny girly tattoos, leaving it to his brother and apprentice Loki, but this chick had something that ignited his curiosity. She seemed completely out of her world among these heavily inked guys, yet she wasn’t worried. She had guts, and a character that didn’t match her physique.

“I don’t know if I’m the best but I’m not too bad,” he smiled with modesty, a trait he inherited from his mother. “Do you know what you want?”

When she started rummaging through her saddle bag, Thor expected her to show a printed picture she had found online, perhaps a flash that had been inked on several people already. The piece of drawing paper surprised him though, and the huge sketch on it even more.

“It’s just a rough draft,” she explained. “I hoped you’d help me finish it, depending on what’s possible to do. I’d like it on my back, perhaps my shoulder…” 

“This is really nice, who did it?” Thor asked as he admired the delicate drawing, way too manly for such a young girl. An American eagle holding a ripped flag in his beak above the name ‘Becky’ on an old-school banner. Now that was unusual, even Army babies didn’t wear such designs.

“I did!” the girl replied with an indignant pout. “My friend and I worked on the design, and I drew it. Do you think it’s doable?”

“It’s not the kind of things I usually tattoo on girls, but it’s a great one. Who’s Becky?”

The girl put down the bag that seemed too heavy for her and pulled on her suspenders with a sad sigh. “She’s my best friend, she just left for Afghanistan. I wanted to serve Uncle Sam too but they didn’t want me, so I won’t be there to protect her.” 

Thor's smile grew wider: this was one of the strangest stories he had heard in his parlor. Thinking she would have protected someone with her Tinkerbell-like silhouette? This kid surely had nerve. He stared at the design, then back at her. “I’m sorry to ask but I have to, can I see your ID?”

“It’s okay, I’m used to it,” she sighed as she pulled her wallet out of her pocket. “It’s always the same in theaters.” 

According to her driving license her name was Stephanie Rogers, twenty-four years old. Thor was used to fake IDs, he double checked just to be sure, but the document seemed official. So he grinned, sincerely impressed with that little piece of woman, and saluted once again.

“Well, hello Stephanie. I’d be happy to work on this with you. I suppose you thought about it for a while? Do you have any medical contraindication?” 

Stephanie sighed, rolled her eyes; she was probably used to this topic. “Well, I talked about it with my doc’ and he said I should mention I’m diabetic and my immune system is kinda weak, but I trust you not to work with rusty needles and dirty machines anyway? Oh and before you say it, _I know_ it’s gonna hurt but it’s okay, I can handle it. I’m used to needles.” 

“I’m sure you can,” Thor said without irony. “If you want we can go to my desk right now and touch up the design a little to adapt it to your body, then make an appointment for the big day?”

This time the girl nodded, a huge smile of relief on her cute face. Thor guessed he wasn’t her first choice but other parlors had probably refused to work with her. He motioned towards his desk and frowned when he saw Fandral and Volstagg making little hearts with their fingers behind her back. These idiots were out of their mind, he wasn’t falling for her at all! She was not his type, besides they would have made a ridiculous couple. One kiss and he would have broken her, and why was he even thinking of kissing her now? He tattooed hot girls every day, he knew how to stay professional under all circumstances.

 

They sat behind his desk and started talking about the design, the elements she wanted to add, the colors -yes, she wanted colors too, but Thor couldn’t deny they would look gorgeous on her pale skin-, the shading. She sometimes took the pencil from his hand to explain what she wanted, or drew details on the complicated artwork. Other times they stopped drawing to talk about her, her relationship with her best friend, her story. 

She ran her curious little fingers on his biceps to touch the implants that added relief to his tattoos, and listened to his stupid mythology stories. It was amazing to see such a petite girl feeling so comfortable among them. They could be less than gentlemen sometimes, but she didn’t care. She had a goal, she was here for a reason and wouldn’t let anything get in her way, even Fandral and Volstagg’s burping contest in the back room.

By the end of the afternoon, Thor felt like he had known her for a long time. Her soft laugh was adorable, her eyes sparkled when she talked about her art -and she wasn’t bad at all. She had flipped through his portfolio and made some interesting compliments about the tattoos he had done, she had asked precisions on the way he worked. When he looked at his agenda to find a date for their appointment, he decided his scheduled day off could be postponed and booked her for the whole afternoon. 

“You sure you don’t mind?” Stephanie insisted.

“Not at all, don’t worry. Maybe we’ll have to plan two or three sessions, I’m gonna need at least four hours to finish it.”

She shrugged and pulled her suspenders with a smile. “Nay, one sitting should be enough!” And she shook his hand one more time, squeezing him as hard as she could, before she left. 

The door closed, Volstagg whistled and Fandral put down the machines he was storing. “That was quite a show! You found yourself a little pixie here…”

“What little -- she’s not mine,” Thor blushed, still stunned by his encounter. He turned to Hogun to look for some help. “I’m not… you, say something!”

His friend simply shrugged, as if he didn’t care. “Sorry but they’re right this time.” Understanding he wouldn’t get support, Thor threw his eraser at him with a grunt.


	2. Chapter 2

The next Monday Stephanie was right on time, and Thor was glad all of his coworkers were busy because he couldn’t stand their constant teasing. He did not ‘have a thing’ for her, hell, she didn’t even look like a woman! She was androgynous and so skinny, they should have known he preferred pinup curves. Yet when she walked in and gave him her cutest smile, Thor felt like a teenager again. 

He prepared the stencils, looking as she sat on the table and took a bottle of water and some energy bars from her bag. 

“My doc’ told me to stay hydrated and get snacks to avoid hypoglycemia,” she explained.

“Great advice. It’s not one of those docs who hate tattoos, right?”

“No, Dr. Erskine is very understanding. He knows I will do it anyway, so he doesn’t try to dissuade me.”

“Stubborn, uh?” Thor joked. He pulled the curtains to give them some privacy, selected his colors and the right needles. “No need to be stubborn with me, if you need a break just tell me. I don’t mind going on later.”

“I’ll be fine,” Stephanie assured. 

She lifted her shirt over her head and Thor almost dropped his needle when he realized she wasn’t wearing a bra. Not that she needed to, her small breasts didn’t have much to offer to gravity, but the sight of pointy pink nipples surprised him and he needed the few seconds it took her to remove the shirt to go back to his usual professional face. 

“I was thinking of placing it here,” she explained, pointing at her shoulder blade. “Like that, what do you think?”

Thor bit his lower lip when he examined the area. Her bones were showing under the skin and it would be terribly painful. But she wouldn’t take that for an answer, and except perhaps for her bum -which Thor wouldn’t try to imagine right now,- she was skinny everywhere, there was nothing he could do about that. 

After applying the stencil and showing her in the mirror, he gave her a pillow to rest her head, helped her onto her stomach, put on his gloves, and cleaned her skin. She seemed calm, collected, much more than some big guys he had tattooed before. Thor had to resist the urge to brush his fingers on her freckles. 

“Ready, miss?” he asked cheerfully to hide his own hesitations. She nodded, and when he moved the dermograph closer to her skin, Thor felt like the worst persecutor. “Here we go…”

Stephanie didn’t reply, too focused on the pain to come. She was impressed, just as anyone getting their first tattoo, but not more. On the other hand, Thor’s heart was pounding in his chest, he was terrified. What if she couldn’t take it? What if he had to find an emergency plan to turn the design into something simpler? What if she had to remain with an unfinished tattoo for all her life? 

Dipping the tip of the thin liner in a tiny cup of black ink, he saw his fingertips shake and strengthened his grip. He had to be professional, that was his specialty. If she couldn’t take it, he would find a way to help her endure the pain as much as she could, then he would find a solution, work on a design that would hurt less, get her some rest, simply take care of her. That was his job, no, his duty as an artist. He was responsible for her.

However as he daydreamed about saving his little victim from the excruciating pain of the dermograph, outlining the banner first just in case she couldn’t do the whole eagle, he suddenly realized Stephanie was responsible for herself. She didn’t say a word, didn’t move, she even focused on breathing evenly. She was taking it like a champ. 

Thor felt sick touching the pointy bones, as if he were inking them and not the skin. He couldn’t imagine what it felt like but her whole body was probably as sensitive as his most sensitive areas. For her, anywhere on her body surely felt like a tattoo on the ribs or the foot. She looked at him with a smirk as he refilled his cup.

“Oh, the serious face!” 

Thor chuckled. “I’m focused, you might want me to be serious… or do you want me to draw a Little Pony instead?” 

“Haha, maybe next time?” Stephanie teased, and Thor felt a drop of sweat roll on his forehead. Damn little pixie, couldn’t she just wait until they were done here before talking about a next time? 

 

The first hour went down rather quickly, and Thor couldn’t help marveling at her resilience. He had been an idiot to judge at first sight, she was much stronger than he thought, even stronger than some of the bikers he sometimes inked. The outlines were done, he had started the black shadings, and she hadn’t requested a break yet. He talked a lot to try keeping her entertained --or was it the other way around? They discussed her job as a cartoonist, then his favorite tattooing style, the weather and the Army, and everything they could think of. Thor would have talked about anything to help her hold on, and it was nice because Stephanie was smart, witty, she had a big mouth and even tortured by a guy twice her weight she wouldn’t tone down her liberal opinions. It was much better than to endure hours of inking racist folks who couldn’t shut their mouths.

Once the outlines and shadings were done, he offered to stop and go on another day but Stephanie shook her head. “No, no, let’s finish today, we have time.”

Her fingertips were shaking a little, she was starting to get tired but she had an impressive motivation. The black lines were swollen on the now red skin of her back, and everytime he sprayed water on her, she let out a sigh of relief. 

“Everything’s alright in there?” Volstagg asked behind the curtains. “Can I come in? Is the lady decent?”

“Come in, the lady doesn’t give a crap!” Stephanie replied cheekily. “So, how does it look? Tell me he didn’t do anything stupid!”

Volstagg let out an admiring whistle, scratching his long beard. “Wow! That’s a nice piece! Perhaps one of your bests to the date! You’re holding on, miss?”

“She’s the best,” Thor sighed in a tone that wasn’t supposed to sound so affectionate. Volstagg raised his eyebrow with a smirk, Thor frowned to assure him that no, he wasn’t falling for that girl at all, but his friend didn’t buy it. 

 

As time went by, Thor could tell Stephanie was getting wary. Her body had more and more trouble handling the pain, but she didn’t ask for a break. She was sweaty, restless, determined to go on. Her breath was shorter, her little body tensed.

“Relax,” Thor encouraged in a soft tone. “Don’t move your muscles, okay? Do you want me to stop for a while?”

“No, no, it’ll hurt more after,” Stephanie pouted, and she was right. She only took a minute to drink and eat half of a chocolate bar, but didn’t move. 

Thor saw the expressions on her face change as they got closer to the end. There was so much she could take -almost more than the average client-, and she was now moaning in pain every time the needles touched her heated skin. She was bleeding a lot and Thor had a hard time seeing what he was doing. But she had said she wanted one sitting, and she stuck to this resolution. 

“Only some details left,” he announced after three hours and a half. “We can stop for today and touch it up later if you want.”

“W--what makes you think I wanna stop?” 

Thor cleaned her skin once again. “Hey, you’ve got nothing to prove…”

“... says the big able-bodied dude,” she grouched, flexing her numb fingers. “Shut up, you sound like Becky right now!” 

If he had been a jerk, Thor would have kissed her flustered cheek without hesitation, because she was precious, a real gem. The kind of girl he would have loved to introduce to his mother. But he remained professional because as hard as he wanted it, she was just a client and he was just an artist. Nothing but an artist. 

“And what will she think of me, if I hurt you?” he insisted to pretend he didn’t hear her groans when he inked gradients with a magnum. 

“I don’t care,” Stephanie pouted, tears in her eyes. “Doesn’t hurt more than knowing what she’s risking right now.” 

Thor bit his lower lip not to tell her she was the bravest little lady he had ever met. She looked frail but was unbreakable. He could tell she was in pain now, panting with every move of his needles, every moan and groan breaking his heart. 

“We’re almost there,” he whispered when she started to muffle her shouts on her closed fist. “Almost… there…” 

Having nothing better to do, Hogun, Fandral, and Volstagg had come to admire the masterpiece, and they were stunned by Stephanie’s strength. Thor had never been so fast and efficient despite his pounding heart. 

When he finally announced that they were done and put down the dermograph, Stephanie’s face fell against the pillow with a soft “Oh, God!”. She motioned to get up but Thor placed a hand on the small of her back, the only place that wasn’t swollen.

“Hey, hey, wait a minute… don’t get up so fast, you see Fandral here? He fainted after his first, so just take your time!”

For once she didn’t try to argue. She drank out of her bottle, fingers shaking a little, then finished her energy bar. She seemed happy to be over with it, and pleased with all the compliments she received. The guys were impressed both by the artwork and her stamina. 

She eventually got up, taking her time, covered her chest with her arms and let Thor lead her to the mirror. Now that it was over, she finally was a bit more reasonable. Her exhausted face lit up when she saw the final result though, and she looked up at Thor with huge wet eyes. “Thank you!”

“No, thanks to you, it was a great session!” Thor smiled, anything but professional.

 

After smothering the tattoo with cream, he bandaged the area and gave her the basic care instructions. She looked tired but happy, both with the tattoo and with herself. 

“Becky’s really lucky to have a friend like you,” he assured as she paid -and how did he want not to take her bills! How he wanted to tell her it was on him, he would pay himself, he would just make her a present! She was the kind of girl you cover with presents. 

Still hissing with pain when she moved, Stephanie lifted her bag on her other shoulder. She was about to leave, after thanking him one more time, when Thor handed her a small business card where he had written down his number.

“Come back in about two or three weeks to see how it’s healed? In the meantime, if you have any problem with the aftercare you can call my cellphone. 24/7, it’s okay.” Usually they only offered their personal numbers for extreme piercings that needed more after care than tattoos, but if she wanted to call, he wouldn’t mind at all.

She took the card, shook his hand with a huge smile and walked out the door, leaving his heart empty after about five hours of being together, talking, joking, teasing each other. Thor warned his friends not to say a word now, and proceeded to clean up his tattoo station. He had to stop this nonsense, he was not infatuated with this skinny sick little woman, not at all. But he hoped she would call.


	3. Chapter 3

She didn’t call. She didn’t like Asgard’s facebook page, she didn’t follow them on Twitter, she didn’t give news for four long weeks. And precisely the day Thor tried to convince himself he was over her, she walked into the parlor, with her ridiculously big blue eyes, her too large denim skirt holding onto her suspenders, her same old saddle bag, her smile that made Thor want to hide behind his counter, and she greeted him as if they were best of friends.

“Hello! I’m sorry I didn’t come earlier but it took some time to heal,” she apologized. “I didn’t want to show it if it wasn’t perfect.” 

“It’s okay, you were right to wait,” Thor lied. “Didn’t hurt too much?”

“Nah, I was fine. The itch was unbearable though!” 

Stephanie followed him away from the front window, turned her back to him and slipped the strap of her tank top down her shoulder to reveal the tattoo. Despite the normal fading the colors were still vivid on her translucent skin, and the design was perfect on the reliefs of her body. Thor examined the details, mumbling to himself. Everything was good, perfect even. No missing spots, no small mistakes. He couldn’t help brushing his fingertips on her to look for possible scars but her skin had healed perfectly. 

Since she didn’t mind, Thor took a few pictures of the piece for his portfolio, one of them including her face turned towards him. His heart clenched at the thought she could just leave and disappear from his life, but at least he would have a picture of her beautiful profile, the cheeky smile stretching her full lips, her slightly too long nose and her thick eyebrows. 

“Guys, come see it, what do you think?” he invited, as they always did when one of them had finished an original tattoo. 

Volstagg looked over his shoulder. “I think it’s gorgeous, and you should ask her out.” 

Thor choked and almost let his Reflex fall to the ground, fortunately catching it in a split second. “What? Shut up!”

“No, but he’s right, this is a masterpiece!” Fandral added. “And the tattoo’s not bad either, ask her out!”

Embarrassed by his friend’s inappropriate behavior, Thor shyly slid the strap of her top up her shoulder. Yet, he was the one blushing and Stephanie was grinning. Hogun put down his mug of coffee, speaking wisely, as always.

“Guys, enough. Thor is able to decide what he wants to do with his life, it’s not ours to command his actions… and we know he’s gonna ask her out, he’s been talking about her for a month.” 

“Oh, come on!” Thor shouted while the three idiots started laughing. He gave Stephanie a desperate look. “I’m so sorry, I don’t know what’s going on with them, they… they suck, I’d understand if you didn’t want to come back again.” 

She simply shrugged, placed a hand on her hip as she looked up to him. “You still have things to do, or do you wanna go get a drink?” 

“I --I have to clean the shop and start the inventory but they’ll do it without me,” Thor replied, excited to have such an opportunity, and threw his friends a threatening glance. “They deserved it. Shall we?”

He offered his arm and Stephanie took it without a second thought. On his way out, Thor grabbed his wallet and keys. She was not the kind of girl you ask out, he should have guessed it. Just before they left, he flipped off his friends behind her back, silently promising they would pay later for the humiliation. 

 

The streets were crowded but it felt as if they were alone, and they quickly caught up on each other. She had been busy, had to stay in bed with a nasty cold for a week, then her body hadn’t been keen on healing fast, but she had thought about him. And she had showed the tattoo to Becky who had insulted her --according to her, it meant she loved it. 

Thor really liked the way her delicate hand wrapped around his forearm. They wandered around the neighborhood, sharing a can of diet Coke and exchanging memories. Stephanie insisted to buy him popcorn and there was nothing Thor could do to protest: she wouldn’t let him pay. When they ran into a curvaceous young woman in a smaller street, he saw the sparkle of envy in Stephanie’s eyes, a sad and jealous look that contrasted with her apparent confidence. He dared to place a hand on her shoulder to draw her closer and Stephanie didn’t reject him. She was everything he needed at the moment, and he had been a fool to once think otherwise.

After a few hours of passionate conversations and tender flirting that had Thor wondering how they hadn’t met before, Stephanie asked to go back to her place and get changed before they’d go eat dinner somewhere. She gave him a glass of orange juice and apologized for taking her meds in front of him before going out, but Thor loved that she didn’t hide. She was always herself, a girl of great integrity. So she had to take all those pills? Thor would sort them for her if she wanted. As long as he could stay with her for a little while, and discuss anything and everything. 

He was thinking about the places he could take her to eat, wondering what she’d like, when she climbed him like a tree and kissed him, postponing dinner. The moment she wrapped her thin legs around his waist Thor knew he was screwed in the most pleasant way. She kissed him, buried her delicate little hands in his hair and nibbled his throat.

“If you want me to stop, just say it,” she whispered, looking into his eyes, and she was dead serious. “I don’t wanna force you to do something you don’t want.” 

There was something unbelievable in this tiny woman suggesting she could coerce him, but Thor smiled and simply shook his head. “Same for you, doll…”

“Don’t call me doll,” she protested, punching his shoulder softly. 

Thor laughed and kissed her ear with a soft “Yes Ma’am” that made them both giggle. He could hold her with one arm, and as she led him to her bedroom he couldn’t take his mouth off her skin. She was petite, both her breasts weren’t enough to fill one of his hands, but she knew exactly what she wanted, how, when, and for how long, and Thor was more than happy to oblige.

 

After she had had her way with him twice, much stronger and resilient than she seemed, she rolled against him and ran her hand on his abs. Thor delicately brushed his fingertips on her skinny frame, her shoulders, her boney sides, her blushing nipples, and her hipbones. He murmured against her ear.

“If you eat like you have sex, dinner’s gonna cost me a lot!”

“I have a good appetite, it’s true, but only when the meal is good!” she replied teasingly before she nibbled on his pec. She placed her cheek on his torso, let out a soft sigh. “Just to clarify something, I don’t do that to every guy I meet, hm?”

“I don’t care how many you’ve had as long as I can get a chance to be the last,” Thor smiled against her lips. “After all I was your first tattoo, that counts too.”

She snuggled closer and the artist wondered for a second if she would really go for a third round before dinner, but the screen of her computer lit up and a series of little sounds were heard. Immediately, the light of her webcam blinked and the screen was split between two Skype windows: one with a video of a young female soldier in an austere room, the other showing them, still naked on the bed.

Thor startled and hid as much as he could behind the sheets. Stephanie sat up, placed a pillow in front of her chest and wiggled towards the screen. “Oh shit, sorry, it’s Becky… it’s set to automatically answer her calls, for when I’m too tired…”

“Yeah, I had this figured out,” Thor mumbled, rolling himself in the bedsheets. 

“Am I interrupting?” Becky asked, arms crossed. Since Stephanie didn’t answer fast enough, she added, “You didn’t tell me you were dating someone!” 

“Yeah… we’re not really dating yet,” Stephanie stammered, all flustered, scratching her head as if her hair wasn’t messy enough. “It sorta happened?” 

“ _She_ happened to me!” Thor clarified, pointing an accusatory finger. “I didn’t…” 

Becky nodded without even looking at him. “It’s the tattoo artist you told me about? You were right he doesn’t look like a meth addict.” 

“I told you to trust me,” Stephanie sighed, rolling her eyes. “Can I call you back later?”

“Sure, we don’t have missions scheduled for the moment, have a good night, punk…” Becky smiled, happier for her friend than she would admit. Just before she logged off, she looked at Thor and mouthed not so discretely, _“Hurt her and I’ll kill you, ok?”_

Thor looked as Stephanie jumped back on the bed and explained that he shouldn’t pay attention to her, Becky was a great friend but she could be a jerk sometimes, she just wanted to protect her. He opened his arms so that his little pixie could join him and hugged her tightly, not afraid of hurting her anymore. Stephanie knew her own limits, and he hadn’t reached them yet.


End file.
